Windows 7 is Microsoft's way of saying "We <3 Media." Even other people's formats—notably Apple favorites H.264 and AAC—are supported in the new OS, which comes with the newest Windows Media Player, version 12. But the biggest multimedia upgrade is Play To, a little WMP feature that eclipses all the rest.

With each version of Windows, Microsoft likes to brag about how much more support they have embedded for other people's devices. I remember at the XP launch, Regis Philbin, standing next to Bill Gates, plugged in a Wi-Fi PC card and "it just worked." Though I could never replicate that experience to save my life,…